Top Headlines: FM likely to begin pre-Budget talks, Musk defends layoffs

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour

FM Sitharaman likely to begin pre-Budget talks from third week of November

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to begin her pre-Budget consultations with stakeholders from the third week of November. Sitharaman and senior officials will hold eight meetings with the representatives of agriculture and agro processing Industry, industry bodies, infrastructure and climate change, financial sector and capital markets, services and trade, social sector, trade union & labour organisations and economists, and state finance ministers. Read more

Elon Musk defends layoffs, says Twitter losing over $4 million a day

Defending his decision over layoff of Twitter employees, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the micro-blogging site was losing more than $4 million per day. Taking to Twitter, Elon Musk said, "Regarding Twitter's reduction in force, unfortunately, there is no choice when the company is losing over $4 mn/day. Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required." "Again, to be crystal clear, Twitter's strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged. In fact, we have actually seen hateful speech at times this week decline *below* our prior norms, contrary to what you may read in the press, he added. Read more

ESMA-Indian regulators logjam: European banks' loss may aid US peers

The derecognition of domestic clearing corporations by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) may come as a bonus for US-based banks providing custodial services for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to gain access to the Indian market. The move by the financial markets regulator of the European Union (EU) would mean Europe-based banks can no longer act as custodians in India come April 2023. Banks — such as Société Générale, Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas — have a fairly large custodian business. If there is no agreement, their clients may switch to US-based banks, such as Citibank and BofA, said industry players. Read more

Giving a thrust: Exports to account for 48% of nine PLI schemes

Exports will account for 48 cent of the sales value committed by companies — Rs 28.9 trillion — across nine Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes spanning various sectors, based on their commitments to the government. Morgan Stanley’s data, derived from government figures, estimates that total exports at the end of the scheme for seven out of the nine PLIs will be to the tune of Rs 13.9 trillion. The share of exports is expected to be far higher as the government has not given out the incremental export commitments, if any, of the PLI’s in textiles, auto and auto components which are key export commodities. Read more

Hero MotoCorp, Harley Davidson close in on motorcycle platform

Hero MotoCorp and Harley Davidson are in final stages of getting their jointly developed motorcycle platform off the ground, Hero MotoCorp’s management said in an investor call. This is part of the larger strategy to strengthen presence in the premium segment where rival Bajaj Auto and Royal Enfield have a stronghold and in which even TVS Motor Co is making rapid strides in.

Hero MotoCorp plans to launch one model every year in the premium end of the motorcycle market, Ranjivit Singh, chief growth officer, Hero MotoCorp, said during the call. Read more